


The Freshman

by marsprince



Category: Archie Comics, Archie Comics & Related Fandoms, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - College/University, Feelings Realization, First Kiss, First Time Blow Jobs, Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-12-24 12:02:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12012309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marsprince/pseuds/marsprince
Summary: Freshman Archie meets his roommate Reggie at college, and soon things don't go as expected for the Senior jock.





	The Freshman

There are two names on the door. Two names. And inside, there is a battered suitcase that is distinctly not Reggie's.

Reggie has his phone out and is waiting for his dad to answer when the door opens, nearly hitting him in the face. He jumps out of the way with a strangled yell and then hangs up. He should be able to handle this on his own, after all.

"Oh, sorry." Says the intruder from behind a pile of boxes, having wisely decided that being able to see in front of him wasn't necessary when carrying unstably-stacked heavy objects.

_‘Great, he not only has a roommate, he has a stupid roommate.’_

"Who the hell are you, and what are you doing in my room?"

"Um. This is my room. Isn't this 201? I mean it must be... It says so on the door. My name is there too, with a little smiley face next to it." He turns and deposits the boxes onto a nearby desk, then nods in approval at them, even though they still look like they are moments from toppling over, and turns to extend his hand. "Hi, I'm Archie. You must be Reggie."

Reggie takes in the messy red hair, a brown leather wristband and cheap white t-shirt, and then rolls his eyes. He shakes Archie's hand grudgingly, even though he doesn't want to. But it's not really Archie's fault that the Housing Department is staffed by a bunch of fuck-ups. "I was supposed to have a single." He says.

Archie grins. "You wish. I heard freshmen never get singles."

"I'm not a freshman. _Wait_. You're a freshman?" Reggie asks, and when Archie nods, Reggie groans. "For fuck's sake. I'm a _senior_. I can't have a freshman as a roommate. I'm going to kill someone. This was supposed to be a single. I picked it out myself in last year's draw."

"I was wondering why the top bunk didn't even have a mattress." Archie says, looking around the room, which is really too small for two people, especially when one of them is Reggie and the other one is some sort of lanky boy who probably listens to whiny indie music every night.

"I'm the captain of the damn football team." Reggie says with his jaw clenched while noticing the electric guitar against the wall. "Just so you _know_ , I won't have some freshman boy playing bad music at three in the morning!”

Archie laughs as though Reggie has said something funny. "No worries there, I’m not one of those guys. I do like to respect other’s comfort…"

"Okay. Good. Well, it won't matter anyway, because I'm sure once I have a talk with the administration, we'll find out you're supposed to be in a different room." _Preferably a different floor, or even a different building._

 

* * *

 

Reggie is angry. His father is angry and has made his displeasure known to the administration of the university. And yet, Archie is still in Reggie's room, and will be, apparently, for quite some time -- probably the whole semester. When Reggie returns, fuming, Archie is standing on a chair, hanging a poster of a band up on the wall. His t-shirt is riding up, showing an arc of pale skin. Reggie swallows and looks away.

"How did it go?" Archie asks, admiring his handiwork.

"Your poster is crooked." Snarls Reggie. "Terrific! Everything is terrific. The only other building available is infested by termites and probably radioactive rats as well. Which means there's a housing shortage, which means no singles for anyone."

"Including the captain of the football team?"

Reggie glares at Archie, who seems amused by the entire debacle. What would he know? He's a freaking freshman. " _Yes._ "

"Did you tell them we need another mattress?"

"I did. They said they'll work on it but we probably won't get one until tomorrow."

"Oh. That's... Good?"

Reggie steps forward and grabs Archie’s bag from the mattress, throwing it away. "Which means you're sleeping on the floor tonight."

Archie finally stops smiling.

 

* * *

 

 

It's two in the morning when Reggie wakes up to find Archie trying to crawl into bed with him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He whispers angrily.

"The carpet smells like feet." Archie says. "And I don't think there's any padding underneath -- it feels like lying on concrete. And I think they put nails in the concrete, just for fun. Please, can I just--?"

Part of Reggie would like nothing more than to let Archie into his bed, but the rest of him knows that's a bad idea. He has to focus on football and on his studies. He's going to start applying to business schools soon, and the last thing he needs is to end up fucking his roommate, who is probably only eighteen. God, Reggie hopes he's at least eighteen. It can only end in drama, and Reggie has sworn that he is done with drama.

Archie has one knee on the bed, and his hand is still holding onto the edge of the blanket. It's too dark to see his face, but Reggie is sure the redhead is giving him a begging look. _Dammit_. He’s tired, and there's no other option. He's got to bring out the big gun.

"You're welcome to, but you should know that I'm bi." Reggie says casually, smiling maliciously and moving over to one side. He waits for Archie to back away and start making excuses about how actually, he really shouldn't bother Reggie and maybe the carpet isn't so bad. Straight boys are so predictable, Reggie has found.

But instead, Archie slides into bed next to Reggie, practically cuddling up to him, and says quietly, "Oh, so at least we've got one thing in common."

Reggie rolls over to face the wall, and softly bangs his head against it.

 

* * *

 

The mattress doesn't show up the next day, or the day after that. Reggie spends most of his time at practice, or in the library. Archie is usually asleep when Reggie leaves for the day, so they only see each other for a few hours in the evening. It's acceptable.

When Reggie returns to his room after the third day of classes, Archie is sitting at the desk, hunched over a large textbook.

"So, what classes are you taking this semester?" Reggie asks distracted, flopping down onto his bed. The coach ran them hard all afternoon, and then Reggie spent four hours doing a vector calculus problem set. He is exhausted.

"Oh, um... Organic chemistry, plus lab; intro to philosophy; conversational Latin; and statistics…"

Reggie sits up a little, leaning on his elbows. "What the hell are you planning on majoring in?"

Archie shrugs. "I dunno. I thought I'd take a little of everything and see what I like."

"Conversational Latin? Who exactly are you going to be conversing with in Latin?"

"Well... You never know when you'll find yourself accidentally traveling back in time to ancient Rome and needing to, you know, ask for directions to the Coliseum."

Reggie barks out a laugh. "You're very strange." Archie's face tightens a little, but then Reggie adds, "Why would you want to go to the Coliseum? If I were in ancient Rome, I'd head straight for the bathhouses and gyms. That's where all the networking happens. Plus, of course, hot and naked men and women, and lots of soap." Archie grins, and Reggie feels his heart flutter a little. He lies back down and puts the pillow over his head.

That night, Archie puts his hand on Reggie's back. "Are you awake?" He whispers.

Reggie doesn't answer at first; he doesn't want to know why Archie is asking, or why Archie is touching him, his hand burning right through the fabric of Reggie's shirt. But then his curiosity gets the better of him. "Yeah."

"I just wanted to say... Thanks. For letting me stay in your room."

"I guess it's your room too."

"Only until the bedbugs are all eradicated. Then I'll probably get moved to a quad with three future frat boys who spend all day drinking beer and talking about hot chicks."

Reggie rolls over to face Archie, his heart beating fast inside his chest. Archie moves his hand to rest in between them. "You could stay here, if you want, even if another place opens up. I... I mean I don't actually mind. It's kind of nice to have someone to talk to, other than the guys on the team. Most of my friends were older and have all graduated by now, so..." Reggie shrugs, actually nervous. "Unless you'd prefer the frat boys."

Even in the dark, Reggie can see Archie's smile. "No, I'd like that."

"Okay, good. I mean, sure, no problem man." Reggie says, and then rolls back to face the wall. What _the hell_ is wrong with him?

 

* * *

 

It takes about three weeks before Reggie begins to regret his late-night benevolence. The exact moment, in fact, is 10:05pm on the eighteenth day of the semester, when Reggie walks in to find Archie getting his cock sucked on Reggie's bed.

Fine, technically it's Archie's bed too, since the second mattress never showed up, and neither of them ever bothered to pursue the matter. Reggie assumed that was because Archie was enjoying their nights together as well, with the brief moments of physical contact, the hours of shared body heat, the torture of wanting more and knowing you can't have it.

Well, perhaps "enjoying" was the wrong world.

But apparently Archie wasn't feeling that way at all, because if he was, he wouldn't be getting head from some random guy, he would be getting head from Reggie.

No, that's not what would be happening. He wouldn't be getting head from Reggie either, but he would want to so much that he wouldn't want it from anyone else.

Reggie has now been standing there for far too long; he has to do something.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY ROOM!" He yells over the loud, obnoxious music (playing from Archie’s laptop). Archie's eyes snap open, and when he sees Reggie, his eyes go wide and his face gets as red as his hair.

 _‘No drama, remember, Mantle?’_  He mutters to himself, and turns and walks back out the door, slamming it behind him.

Reggie spends the next hour pacing back and forth on the football field, barefoot, feeling the cool grass between his toes and the rough bricks on his soles. He ignores the curious stares of students returning to their dorms, as well as the incessant buzzing of his mobile in his pocket.

He spends the hour after that lying on one of the benches, watching the stars as they are obscured by clouds.

Then it starts to rain, so he has no choice but to get back inside.

When he opens the door to his room, it's quiet, and Archie is sitting on the bed, alone and fully clothed, hair wet as if he's just showered.

"Reggie, I've been--" He says quickly, jumping up and knocking his head hard against the top bunk. "Ow, fuck!" He sits back down, cradling his head in his hand.

"Are you all right?" Reggie asks, hurrying over. "You idiot, just because there's no mattress on the top bunk doesn't mean the top bunk ceases to exist."

"I'm okay. I think." He doesn't sound very sure.

"You could have a concussion."

"You can't get a concussion from a bunk bed."

"You can get a concussion from anything if you hit your head on it hard enough, dumbass!"

Archie is quiet for a moment. "Not a pillow. Or a balloon. Or a giant ball of yarn. Or--"

"Fine." says Reggie, pushing at Archie's shoulder and sitting down next to him. "Not anything. But definitely a solid piece of wood. Or rather, particle board with ugly fake-oak veneer. Do you need ice or... Something?"

"No. I just need to sleep, I'll be fine."

"You shouldn't sleep, that's... Well that's pretty much all I know about head injuries, that you shouldn't sleep."

"Why not? That doesn't make any sense."

"I don't know! Otherwise maybe you... Lapse into a coma or something. I took a few bad hits to the head in high school--"

"That explains everything..."

"Shut up. It's just I remember the doctor telling my parents to keep me awake for a few hours afterward, and to keep me talking."

"But it's after midnight, and my Latin class is at eight."

"Fine, one hour. Then you can sleep. And you could blow off your Latin class. I haven't seen any roman soldiers lurking around the campus lately."

"Ha. Okay." Archie sits and let’s go of his head and sits up a little straighter. " _Augh_ , that hurts."

Reggie turns on the bedside light that's clipped to the bedpost and twists it until it's shining on Archie. He leans in, touching Archie's wet hair, feeling for a bump under the skin. "I think you'll live." He says. Archie looks over and squints against the light.

"I feel like I'm being interrogated by the police or something."

"Does that happen often?" Reggie asks after turning the light off again.

"No." Says Archie, scowling. "Well, only once, and it was a complete misunderstanding. I was cleared of all charges. It was my friend Jughead’s fault. And the cow's fault."

"Cow?"

"It's a long story."

"Well, what else are we going to talk about?" Reggie asks, and regrets the question as soon as it's out of his mouth. He knows what Archie is going to say.

Archie sighs and looks down at his feet. "Um. Well... I wanted to say: I'm sorry, about earlier. I, um, didn't think you'd be back until eleven, since you have that econ paper due tomorrow."

Reggie is about to mutter something noncommittal, but then he considers the implications of Archie knowing his schedule in that much detail. "I finished that yesterday, and… Wait a minute, do you do this often? Do you schedule your sex sessions around my studying? This is my bed, you can't just--"

"No, no! sex sessions? seriously? No! This… This was the first time. I know I shouldn't have! I was going to go to his place, but he said his roommate isn't so cool about the whole gay thing."

"Then his roommate's an asshole. Anyway, do you not know about the basement of the Library? As far as I know, the only reason anyone ever goes there is to have sex. Well, probably grad students go there for research, but they hardly count."

"I... Seem to have missed that part of the orientation lecture, actually." Archie says shyly. "So... You don't mind? I mean, as long as it doesn't happen in here?"

Reggie remembers how he felt, but that was two hours ago. He's over it now. He's certainly not going to go pining after a freshman who has no interest in him, that would be pathetic. "Why on Earth would I care? You can get your cock sucked by the entire student body, just not on my bed. Or floor. Or desk. Okay? Not anywhere in this room."

"Right. Okay." Archie shifts a little. "It's just... And this is probably really stupid of me to say, but I can always blame it on brain trauma, right? It's just I thought maybe you... Liked me."

Reggie really wants to get up and slam the door behind, but if he did, he would probably come back to find Archie dead from brain swelling, and everyone would blame him, Reggie included. "No, I don't. Maybe. Whatever! It doesn't matter whether I like you or not."

"Why not?"

"Because we're roommates."

"So?"

"And you're a freshman."

"I'm nineteen years old, it's not like I'm--?"

"Nineteen? Really?"

"Yeah, what’s the difference anyways? Why do you always change the topic?"

"I'm not, you're the one who said--"

"Oh!" Archie says, grinning. "You were worried I was underage."

"I wasn't worried, I just--" Reggie says, and then Archie leans over and kisses him, once, on the mouth.

"You have no idea how much I want you, Reg..." Archie says in a low, soft voice, his face very close to Reggie's. "It's killing me. You're really fucking hot, and- and kind, and smart, and..."

"Go on." Reggie says.

"Well, there's only so much I can do with my hand and fingers and I got really desperate, I just needed someone to touch me. And I was at a party and that guy -- I don't even know his name, I think it was Edgar or Edwin or something? -- He hit on me and I thought why not? It's not like I have any chance with Reggie. I mean, I thought I did, at first, the way you looked at me, but then nothing happened, and I thought maybe that's just how you looked at people. Maybe you have intense eyes. It was funny, actually, to imagine people at the grocery store thinking you wanted to fuck them when you just wanted to know which aisle the milk was on."

"Archie. You're babbling."

"That's because I'm nervous. I kissed you, and you're just sitting there letting me talk, and--"

In an ideal world, Reggie knew he would gently explain to Archie why it was a bad idea to become sexually and/or romantically involved with one's roommate. He would regale him with stories from his previous years here, when even having a boyfriend in the same dorm turned into a storm of shouting and blaming and throwing things out of third story windows.

But this is far from an ideal world, and Reggie can't remember ever wanting to kiss someone more than he does right now. So he leans forward and kisses Archie. He kisses Archie until his mouth opens, and his tongue can work its way in. Then he puts his hand in Archie's hair, pulls him closer, and pushes him down onto the bed. Gently, though. After all, he might have a concussion.

 

* * *

 

The next morning, Reggie wakes up with a smile on his face. Archie is sleeping next to him, their limbs tangled together. In the light of day, Reggie can see a small purple bump on Archie's forehead, right at his hairline. Reggie leans over and kisses it. Archie mutters and rolls over, pulling the blanket over his head.

Reggie has almost drifted back to sleep again when there is a knock at the door. He gets up, pulls on some shorts and a t-shirt, and tiptoes over to answer it.

At the door is a man, and next to him is a brand new mattress wrapped in plastic. "Got your extra mattress for you.” The man says, looking down at his clipboard.

"Oh. There must be some sort of mistake." Reggie says, making his best arrogant face. "Someone already brought us one last week."

"It says here that--"

"I'm sure it does." Reggie says firmly. "But it's a small room, and there's really no space for another mattress. We have exactly as many as we need."

The man sighs and looks at his clipboard. "I guess I'll take this over to the storage room, then."

"You do that." Says Reggie with a satisfied smile. Then he closes the door, and gets back into bed, pulling Archie’s smaller frame close to him.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos are always welcome!


End file.
